The performance of a drag racer, as judged in a drag racing contest, is primarily determined by the ability of the racer to accelerate from a starting position. According to established rules, the sport of drag racing involves accelerating a car from a standing start to a finish line, usually over a distance of 1/8 or 1/4 mile, in the shortest possible time. The driver normally must sequentially shift the drag racing car from lower to higher gears in the shortest possible time and yet perform such shifting when optimum conditions, inherent in drag racing cars, are present.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,891 [Guanciale], herein incorporated by reference, describes a drag racing car having an automatic transmission that is shifted in discrete increments to sequentially higher gears in response to the activation of a single solenoid that is, in turn, responsive to an electrical signal produced each time the engine of the drag racing car reaches a pre-determined revolutions per minute (RPM) level. Even though the shift lever is moved in discrete increments, the use of a single solenoid may disadvantageously have a tendency to cause the gear shift lever to overshoot. Further, the use of pre-determined engine RPM levels to determine the optimum time to perform the gear shifting may be somewhat restrictive because it does not take into account other factors, such as wheel speed or rotation of the drag racing car, or elapsed time from a starting condition or from a previous gear shift occurrence.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a gear shift control mechanism that moves the shift lever in an instantaneous manner yet has means that safeguards against any overshoot of the movable shift lever.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a gear shift control mechanism that has means for determining the optimum conditions for sequentially shifting gears and which conditions take into account various factors, such as wheel rotation, elapsed time, as well as pre-determined engine RPM levels.
Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide gear shift control mechanisms that automatically move the shift lever in one direction in either a planar or a curvilinear manner.
Further still, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display that only indicates critical functions of the drag racing car so that the driver's attention is not unnecessarily diverted, thereby, allowing him/her to concentrate on the important aspects of the drag racing car's operation, especially during a drag racing contest.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become evident hereinafter.